Monday, October 27th, 2008
Someone sent me an e-mail and I want to correct what may be a misunderstanding regarding yesterday.
The barrier placement at the bottom of the descent played no roll in my crash yesterday. I would have wrecked even if the barrier was not there. It was the turn, not the barriers.
The course was great, the race was great, I really wish I could have finished.
I regret that there was so much complaining about the race entry fee amount for what turned out to be the best cross course that I have seen so far this year.
I have seen and heard a fair amount of complaining about the cyclocross races so far this year. I have to say that it is a bit shocking, especially when those complaints come from individuals who are not promoting a cross race this year and have probably not promoted any races at all.
Entry fee is too high, course layout has too much single track, race order is wrong because I want to go first or last, officiating is bad because I lapped that guy, blah blah blah.
Have you promoted a cross race this year? Have you promoted any races this year? Ever? Have you ever served as a race official? I thought not. Your opinion is worth about as much as the stuff still caked on my bike this morning.
Contribute or shut up.
Actions, not words.
Kudos again to Synergy and everyone to helped pull off Green Acres yesterday. I am already thinking about next year out there. Hopefully the weather will cooperate again.
Posted by Smithers at 9:12 am in Cycling | Permalink | 23 Comments »
Monday, October 27th, 2008
Easily explained.
When you bet on who’s going to win the Super Bowl, you’re not investing in anything. You’re just placing a bet that is tied to an external event. That’s what the derivatives market is. And for the financial industry, the bursting of the housing bubble was the equivalent of the Giants beating the Patriots in last year’s Super Bowl, an unexpected outcome that caused a lot of people to lose money.
But if it hadn’t been the housing market, it would have been something else. The system was deeply flawed. The big financial institutions were placing too many bets; they were writing swap contracts that they didn’t have nearly enough capital to honor in the event they all came due.
The saddest part of the whole story, though, is that the event that brought the whole house of cards down really wasn’t unexpected; it wasn’t the equivalent of the Giants beating the Patriots. That was a genuine upset. Not too many people placed large bets on the Giants winning that game. But lots of people saw the collapse of the housing market coming. There were numerous scholarly papers written on the subject. And there were lots of investors who were willing to bet big on the impending collapse. Those people are all billionaires now. And the companies who took their bets–venerable institutions like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and AIG–are bankrupt.
It’s all pretty unbelievable.
Posted by Smithers at 7:44 am in Politics | Permalink | No Comments »
